Did you know that parents have a superpower that can help their children stay on the path of Father’s perfect will?
Children, as fully functional humans with eternal spirits, have the ability to make decisions from the moment they are placed in the womb. The ability to make decisions, or vows, is a function of the mind, will, and emotions. That right to choose is so precious to the Father that He paid for us to have it through the blood of His Son, Jesus.
However, children (and even adults at times) don’t always have all the information they need to make the best choice or vow.
The evil one capitalizes on this and accosts them both in the womb and in early childhood with thoughts and emotions in an attempt to overpower them.
This is one key reason to flood their spirits with spirit blessings*, words of love and affirmation, the Word, and worship in the womb—and afterward. The Father has already light-scribed their spirit with eternity, their missions, and more, but they need to hear from us, Earth-side, the truth, and love about Father and themselves so they are equipped to not receive and agree with the evil one’s input.
In the Old Testament, Moses commanded the men on behalf of the Lord to keep their word—their vows—period. The Father set Israel apart from the other nations, and the commands they were to keep would reflect Father’s character among the nations. Keeping your word is exactly what the Father does. So, the men were commanded to keep theirs.
However, the Father made provision for daughters and wives. He said:
“When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.” Numbers 30:3-5
The Father commanded the men to keep their word. He also backed the men to release their daughters, children, and wives from keeping a word or vow, as the men would be required to back their family’s word. The Father backed the men on this release because keeping one’s word is serious business.
Fast forward to Jesus’ instruction on this matter.
“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Matthew 5:37.
Jesus pinpointed the reason that oaths (which can be the same, and also a little different from vows) didn’t need to be made. The evil one uses our every infraction (and not keeping one’s word is a big one) to cause trouble, difficulty and to bring punishment on us.
Praise be to Father for rescuing us from the trouble our mouths (and hearts) can get us into!
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Our children in the womb and in early childhood are spiritual beings first and, as such, they are experiencing the spiritual realm, whether we know about it or not. With the limited information they have, they are making choices. These choices are decisions or vows. They can be as simple as the following.
I will not be a burden. I will never do that. I will always do this. I am bad. I am unlovable.
The vows may be simple, but they are powerful.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Hope Streams